"awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1949. Wald is often cited as the real-life inspiration for the character Sammy Glick in the novel ""What Makes Sammy Run"" by Budd Schulberg. Jerry Wald, was a very close friend to Joan Crawford in the forties, offering her many parts including the title role in ""Mildred Pierce"", which he produced. He convinced director Michael Curtiz that she would succeed in the role, which brought her the Oscar for Best Actress in 1946. Jerry Wald not only produced ""Mildred Pierce"", but also ""Humoresque"" (1946), considered one of the best performances of Crawford's"
"Ann Blyth Ann Marie Blyth (born August 16, 1928) is an American actress and singer, often cast in Hollywood musicals, but also successful in dramatic roles. For her performance as Veda Pierce in the 1945 film ""Mildred Pierce,"" Blyth was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Blyth was born August 16, 1928 in Mount Kisco, New York, to Harry and Nan Lynch Blyth. After her parents separated, she, her mother, and sister moved to a walk-up apartment on East 31st Street in New"
"Dwight D. Eisenhower for president, the month before the 1952 presidential election. In 1955 an armed man who had written her fan letters was arrested near her house. Ann Blyth Ann Marie Blyth (born August 16, 1928) is an American actress and singer, often cast in Hollywood musicals, but also successful in dramatic roles. For her performance as Veda Pierce in the 1945 film ""Mildred Pierce,"" Blyth was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Blyth was born August 16, 1928 in Mount Kisco,"
"her suitability by taking a screen test; she agreed. After the test, Curtiz agreed to Crawford's casting. ""Mildred Pierce"" was a resounding critical and commercial success. It epitomized the lush visual style and the hard-boiled film noir sensibility that defined Warner Bros. movies of the late forties. Crawford earned the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. The success of ""Mildred Pierce"" revived Crawford's movie career. For several years, she starred in what were called ""a series of first-rate melodramas"". Her next film was ""Humoresque"" (1946), co-starring John Garfield, a romantic drama about a love affair between an"
"movie stars, and one of the highest-paid women in the United States. In 1945 she starred in ""Mildred Pierce"" and won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She would go on to receive Best Actress nominations for ""Possessed"" (1947) and ""Sudden Fear"" (1952). Crawford continued to act in film and television throughout the 1950s and 1960s; she achieved box office success with the highly successful horror film ""Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?"" (1962), in which she starred alongside Bette Davis, her long-time rival. In 1955, Crawford became involved with the Pepsi-Cola Company through her marriage to company Chairman and Chief"
"role at the studio, in the title role as ""Mildred Pierce"" (1945), revived her career and earned her an Oscar for Best Actress. In the post-war years, Warner Bros. continued to create new stars, including Lauren Bacall and Doris Day. The studio prospered greatly after the war. By 1946, company payroll reached $600,000 a week and net profit topped $19.4 million. Jack Warner continued to refuse to meet Screen Actors Guild salary demands. In September 1946, employees engaged in a month-long strike. In retaliation, Warner—during his 1947 testimony before Congress about ""Mission to Moscow""—accused multiple employees of ties to Communists."
"studio, she received critical and commercial acclaim for her performance in drama ""Mildred Pierce"" (1945). The film earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress. From 1946 to 1952, Crawford appeared in a series of critical and box office successes, including the musical drama ""Humoresque"" (1946); film noirs ""Possessed"" (1947, for which she received a second Academy Award nomination) and ""Flamingo Road"" (1949); drama ""The Damned Don't Cry"" (1950); and romantic comedy ""Goodbye, My Fancy"" (1951), among others. She received a third – and final – Academy Award nomination for her performance in the thriller ""Sudden Fear"" (1952). In 1953,"
"time holding down 80% of all German forces as they repelled the Nazi invasion of Russia. The film was mostly well received by critics and was a success at the box office, but the film soon proved to be controversial after it stirred up strong anti-Communist sentiments. Curtiz took the criticism personally and vowed never again to direct an overtly political film, a promise which he kept. ""Mildred Pierce"" (1945) was based on the novel by James M. Cain. Its star, Joan Crawford, gave one of the strongest performances in her acting career, playing a mother and successful businesswoman who"
"early-1950s, the femme fatale flourished in American cinema. Examples include Brigid O'Shaughnessy, portrayed by Mary Astor, who murders Sam Spade's partner in ""The Maltese Falcon"" (1941); manipulative narcissistic daughter Veda (portrayed by Ann Blyth) in ""Mildred Pierce"" who exploits her indulgent mother Mildred (portrayed by Joan Crawford) and fatally destroys her mother's remarriage to stepfather Monte Barragon (portrayed by Zachary Scott); Gene Tierney as Ellen Brent Harland in ""Leave Her to Heaven"" (1945), and the cabaret singer portrayed by Rita Hayworth in ""Gilda"" (1946), narcissistic wives who manipulate their husbands; Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) in ""Double Indemnity"" (1944), Ava Gardner"
"and Claude Rains; in the Abbott and Costello comedy, ""Abbott and Costello in Hollywood""; Michael Curtiz' 1945 classic, ""Mildred Pierce"", starring Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, and Zachary Scott; in the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, ""State Fair"" (1945), starring Jeanne Crain and Dana Andrews; the 1945 romantic comedy ""Lover Come Back"", starring George Brent and Lucille Ball; Curtiz' 1946 biopic about Cole Porter, ""Night and Day"", starring Cary Grant and Alexis Smith; the classic film noir ""Lady in the Lake"" (1947), starring and directed by Robert Montgomery; the 1948 classic version of ""The Three Musketeers"", starring Gene Kelly, Lana Turner"
"an affair with Monty and kills him when he refuses to divorce Mildred to marry her. Mildred initially confesses to Monty's murder in order to shield Veda from prosecution but ultimately gives her over to the authorities. ""Mildred Pierce"" was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (both Arden and Blyth), Best Screenplay and Best Black-and-White Cinematography (Ernest Haller). Crawford won the film's only Academy Award, as Best Actress. Director Todd Haynes filmed a five-part miniseries, with Kate Winslet as Mildred, Guy Pearce as Monty Beragon, and Evan Rachel Wood as Veda, in spring 2010 (with"
"actress in history to win two Golden Globe Awards at the same ceremony. Exhausted by the media attention during this period, Winslet took two years off work until she was ready to creatively engage again. Winslet returned to acting with the five-part HBO miniseries ""Mildred Pierce"" (2011), an adaptation of James M. Cain's novel from the director Todd Haynes. It is about the titular heroine (Winslet), a divorcée during the Great Depression struggling to establish a restaurant business while yearning for the respect of her narcissistic daughter (played by Evan Rachel Wood). Winslet, who had recently divorced Mendes, believed that"
"His screen career was interrupted by World War II, when he served in the United States Navy. Bennett appeared in many films in the 1940s and early 1950s, including ""Sahara"" (1943) with Humphrey Bogart, ""Mildred Pierce"" (1945) with Joan Crawford, ""Nora Prentiss"" (1947) with Ann Sheridan, ""Dark Passage"" (1947) with Bogart and Lauren Bacall, ""The Treasure of the Sierra Madre"" (1948) with Bogart and Walter Huston, ""Mystery Street"" (1950) with Ricardo Montalban, ""Sudden Fear"" (1952) with Joan Crawford and Gloria Grahame and ""Strategic Air Command"" (1955) with James Stewart. The ""Washington Post"" noted, ""Bennett moved into grittier roles in the"
"initial screen appearance in ""The Mask of Dimitrios"" (1944). Scott was one of the many Warners stars who had small roles in ""Hollywood Canteen"" (1944). He was loaned out to United Artists to play the lead in ""The Southerner"" (1945) directed by Jean Renoir. Back at Warners, Scott was cast in ""Mildred Pierce"" (1945) and received much acclaim for his performance. In the film he portrays Joan Crawford's somewhat sleazy love interest, whose mysterious murder forms the basis of the plot. (In the novel on which the movie is based, the character is just as sleazy but is not killed.)"
"in ""The Women"" (1939), filmed after ""Gone with the Wind"" but released before it. She also played Butterfly, Rochester's niece and Mary Livingstone's maid in the Jack Benny radio program for a time during World War II. She appeared in an uncredited role in ""Mildred Pierce"" (1945) (where she had a good amount of screen time) and played a supporting role in ""Duel in the Sun"" (1946). By 1947, she had grown tired of the ethnic stereotypes she was required to play and ended her film career. During World War II, McQueen frequently appeared as a comedian on the Armed"
"of the two: women must be submissive, live through others, and remain in the home. Wins Nominations American Film Institute lists A five-part television miniseries of ""Mildred Pierce"" premiered on HBO in March 2011, starring Kate Winslet as Mildred, Guy Pearce as Beragon, Evan Rachel Wood as Veda and Mare Winningham as Ida. Separate actresses portray Veda at different ages, as opposed to Ann Blyth alone in the 1945 film. Wally Fay's character in the original has been changed back to the novel's Wally Burgan, and is portrayed by James LeGros. The cast also includes Melissa Leo as Mildred's neighbor"
"one of Patrick's most enduring film characterizations. That same year, she appeared in a leading role as an intelligent, crime-solving nurse in ""The Nurse's Secret"". Among her other films are ""The Sisters"" (1938), ""Now, Voyager"" (1942), ""Mrs. Parkington"" (1944), ""Gambler's Choice"" (1944), ""Mildred Pierce"" (1945), ""Wake Up and Dream"" (1946), ""Caged"" (1950), ""There's No Business Like Show Business"" (1954), ""Vertigo"" (1958), ""Auntie Mame"" (1958), ""Pillow Talk"" (1959), ""Summer and Smoke"" (1961), and ""7 Faces of Dr. Lao"" (1964). In the mid-1960s Lee retired to travel and paint in Orange County, CA, but was coaxed back one more time to Hollywood."
"Pierce"" was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Only Crawford won, for Best Actress, her first and only Oscar. The novel's author, James M. Cain, gave her a leather-bound copy of ""Mildred Pierce"", which he inscribed: ""To Joan Crawford, who brought Mildred to life as I had always hoped she would be, and who has my lifelong gratitude."" The film returned Crawford to the ranks of leading stars. After the success of the film, Jack Warner gave Curtiz two new and exceptional contracts in appreciation, boosting his salary and reducing the number of films he had to direct"
"C.J. Thomason, Corbin Bleu, and Charles S. Dutton. The film was released in theaters and on demand on October 8, 2013. Michelle Pierce Michelle Pierce is an American actress. Pierce was born in Palo Alto, California. She also has two sisters and one brother. Her great-grandmother was Helen Bray, star of many silent films during the early 20th century. Pierce attended UCLA and after graduating landed roles on series like """" and recurring roles on the soap opera ""Days of Our Lives"". She has also appeared in ""Desperate Housewives"", ""Criminal Minds"", """", and ""Rules of Engagement"", among others. She also"
"her own autobiography was published in 1957. Already an experienced stage actress, she made her speaking debut in film in ""The Queen of Spades"" (1949), although she had played an uncredited minor role in ""Love on the Dole"" eight years earlier. She appeared in several prominent film roles over the following three decades, winning a British Film Award for ""The Divided Heart"" (1954) and the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 7th Berlin International Film Festival for ""Woman in a Dressing Gown"" (1957). She appeared in the role of Mildred in the controversial film ""Sapphire"" (1959). On television, Mitchell"
"$100,000. For $500,000, Crawford signed with Warner Bros. for a three-movie deal, and was placed on the payroll on July 1, 1943. Her first film for the studio was ""Hollywood Canteen"" (1944), an all-star morale-booster film that teamed her with several other top movie stars at the time. Crawford said one of the main reasons she signed with Warner Bros. was because she wanted to play the character ""Mattie"" in a proposed 1944 film version of Edith Wharton's novel ""Ethan Frome"" (1911). She wanted to play the title role in ""Mildred Pierce"" (1945), but Bette Davis was the studio's first"
"Quinn McColgan Quinn McColgan (born January 31, 2002) is an American teen actress from Delaware, who has appeared in five feature films, four TV shows, one TV movie and a short. Her breakthrough role was in the TV mini-series ""Mildred Pierce"" as Ray Pierce (the younger daughter of Mildred Pierce, played by Kate Winslet) directed by Todd Haynes, and one of her best known roles was Becca in the Liam Neeson film ""Non-Stop"" (2014) directed by Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra. Starting her career in commercials, McColgan has moved up to have prominent roles in feature films and television shows. Her"
"Michelle Pierce Michelle Pierce is an American actress. Pierce was born in Palo Alto, California. She also has two sisters and one brother. Her great-grandmother was Helen Bray, star of many silent films during the early 20th century. Pierce attended UCLA and after graduating landed roles on series like """" and recurring roles on the soap opera ""Days of Our Lives"". She has also appeared in ""Desperate Housewives"", ""Criminal Minds"", """", and ""Rules of Engagement"", among others. She also had a small role on the 2007 blockbuster ""Transformers"". In 2009, she starred on the ""Rules of Engagement""-episode 'Jeff's New Friend'"
"Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress and dancer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in a total of 61 films over 37 years. The press coined the term ""The Love Goddess"" to describe Hayworth after she had become the most glamorous screen idol of the 1940s. She was the top pin-up girl for GIs during World War II. Hayworth is perhaps best known for her performance in the 1946 film noir, ""Gilda"", opposite Glenn Ford, in which she played the ""femme"
"opening a restaurant of her own and falling in love with a man, all the while trying to earn her spoiled, narcissistic elder daughter's love and respect. Parts of the miniseries were filmed in three New York locations: Peekskill, Point Lookout and Merrick. ""Mildred Pierce"" received generally favorable reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film currently holds an average score of 69, based on 28 reviews, which indicates ""generally favorable reviews"". In a WBEZ podcast on the best theatrical films of 2011, critic Jonathan Rosenbaum used the series"
"Connie Gilchrist Rose Constance ""Connie"" Gilchrist (February 2, 1901 – March 3, 1985) was an American actress. She is known for her roles in the films ""Cry 'Havoc'"" (1943), ""A Letter to Three Wives"" (1949), ""Little Women"" (1949), ""Tripoli"" (1950), ""Houdini"" (1953), ""Some Came Running"" (1958), and ""Auntie Mame"" (1958). Gilchrist was born in Brooklyn, New York. Her mother, Martha Daniels, was an actress. Gilchrist made her stage debut in London at age 16. She eventually made her way to Hollywood, where she was signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to a 10-year contract in 1939. After playing Purity Pinker in the 1954"
"and in more than eighty films, including some that became classics, such as ""Dead End"" (1937), ""Dark Command"" (1940), ""The Shepherd of the Hills"" (1941), ""Meet Me in St. Louis"" (1944), and ""Friendly Persuasion"" (1956), but is best known for her Ma Kettle role in the Ma and Pa Kettle film series. The ""cornball humor"" of the Kettle films endured in subsequent television shows, such as ""The Beverly Hillbillies"" and ""Green Acres"" series of the 1960s. Marjorie Main Marjorie Main is the stage name of Mary Tomlinson (February 24, 1890 – April 10, 1975), was an American character actress and"
"Culver City, California. Lindsay's sister, Jane Kies (1909–1985), was also an actress under the stage name Jane Gilbert. Lindsay's niece, Peggy Kenline, and great-nephew, Brad Yates, were also actors. In 1940, Jane Gilbert wed actor William Hopper, son of Hedda Hopper, best known for his role as Paul Drake in the ""Perry Mason"" television series. The couple had a daughter, Joan, in 1947. Margaret Lindsay Margaret Lindsay (born Margaret Kies, September 19, 1910 – May 9, 1981) was an American film actress. Her time as a Warner Bros. contract player during the 1930s was particularly productive. She was noted for"
"mostly as a maid, a busybody, landladies, or middle-aged secretaries. Some of her other film roles include parts in ""Citizen Kane"" (1941), ""Blossoms in the Dust"" (1941), ""Woman of the Year"" (1942), ""Reunion in France"" (1942), ""The Strange Woman"" (1947), ""I Remember Mama"" (1948), ""Rope"" (1948), ""The Damned Don't Cry"" (1950), ""The Day the Earth Stood Still"" (1951) and Disney's ""Toby Tyler"" (1960). During her time in Hollywood, she co-starred opposite some of its greatest legends, including Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Orson Welles, Joan Crawford, Michael Rennie, Glenn Ford, Patricia Neal, James Stewart, Irene Dunne, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, and"
"known for writing for some of the biggest stars of the time, such as Rosalind Russell, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino, Bette Davis, and Barbara Stanwyck among others. Turney is probably best known for The Man I Love, A Stolen Life, My Reputation and Mildred Pierce, although uncredited for the latter. When Mildred Pierce was nominated for Best Screenplay Writing at the 1946 Academy Awards, Turney did not receive on-screen credit and therefore was technically never nominated for an Academy Award. Winter Meeting (1948) was Turney's last film with Warner Brothers as she would later join Paramount Pictures for the writing"
"(1943), ""Mildred Pierce"" (1945), and ""Life with Father"" (1947). ""The Sea Hawk"" was one of 1940's biggest hits, starring Errol Flynn in the role of an adventurer in the mold of Sir Francis Drake. Flora Robson played Queen Elizabeth I, and Claude Rains acted as the Spanish ambassador, whose job it was to mislead the Queen who rightly suspected the Spanish Armada was about to attempt to invade England. Some critics felt the story was equivalent to actual events then taking place in Europe, describing it as a ""thinly veiled diatribe against American isolationism on World War II's brink."" Film"
"Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In 1945, Hopper reprinted a press release for Mildred Pierce in her column, which described Crawford as a leading contender for the Best Actress Oscar. Such was Hopper's influence that she was credited with swinging the decision in Crawford's favor when she won the award. Hopper's support has been described as the first instance of lobbying the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to favor a certain winner. Actress ZaSu Pitts compared Hopper to ""a ferret"". Joan Bennett sent Hopper a """"$435 valentine. The $35 went for a skunk which carried a note: 'Won't you be my valentine?"
"Paulette Goddard Paulette Goddard (born Marion Levy; June 3, 1910 – April 23, 1990) was an American actress, a child fashion model and a performer in several Broadway productions as a Ziegfeld Girl; she became a major star of Paramount Pictures in the 1940s. Her most notable films were her first major role, as Charlie Chaplin's leading lady in ""Modern Times"", and Chaplin's subsequent film ""The Great Dictator"". She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in ""So Proudly We Hail!"" (1943). Her husbands included Chaplin, Burgess Meredith, and Erich Maria Remarque. Goddard was"